Gay marriage is a vote changer for young people

A commitment to introduce a bill will not in itself lead to marriage equality.

AFP: Kevork Djansezian

While it might not be a "bread and butter" issue, marriage equality ranks among the highest priorities for young people who want to make homophobia a thing of the past, writes Adam Pulford.

I was born and raised in the Northern Territory and graduated from high school in 2007.

I remember the one 'gay guy' in Darwin who my friends and I would mock. The term 'that's gay' was bandied around throughout school with no appreciation for the hurt it could cause.

I was not comfortable in voicing my same-sex attraction then and there, and I didn't end up coming out to all of my friends and parents until I was 21 and had moved away from Darwin.

In a move to differentiate the two major parties, at the end of the first leaders' debate, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced a renewed push for marriage equality by the Labor Party.

Rudd committed to supporting a bill legalising same-sex marriage in the first 100 days of the new Parliament, should Labor be re-elected. The ALP also subsequently launched their own 'It's Time for Marriage Equality' campaign to further reach out to the electorate.

These are smart moves by Rudd and Labor, especially to reengage and invigorate the youth vote - a powerful force in Australian politics.

In total, young people aged 18-25 make up 12 per cent of the electorate, with up to 2 million young Australians eligible to vote in the upcoming federal election. While not all young people agree on all issues, according to a recent Australia Institute survey, marriage equality is a priority for young voters. The survey of 800 young Australians aged between 17 and 25 found that it is one of the top four issues that would decide their vote this federal election.

I have spent the last several months in my role as this year's Youth Representative to the United Nations travelling across Australia and having conversations with thousands of young people. These conversations by and large have sounded a strong endorsement of the Australia Institute's findings. Without fail, in each consultation, marriage equality has been brought up as one of the most important issues of the young people present. And it has not been the case that there is only one strong advocate within each group. Rather, when mentioned, heads around the room nod their agreement and others speak up on its importance.

Six years after leaving Darwin, I returned to the NT on the first leg of my national tour as the Youth Representative. Starting in Alice Springs, I spent nine days travelling north to Darwin, working with students in these two cities, as well as in Tennant Creek and Katherine along the way. To hear marriage equality brought up in every group that I worked with and for it to be one of the top issues for these young people was incredible and is testament to the speed at which generational attitudes on this issue are shifting. To me, it was a clear example of how far Australian society has come in just six years.

Commenting again last Wednesday on his and the Coalition's stance on same-sex marriage, Abbott stated that it is an important issue, however, "It's not the only important issue and the priority of a Coalition government ... will be addressing bread and butter issues."

It is an utter disgrace that young people who are questioning their sexuality are six times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. I cannot believe that one of our nation's leaders, potentially our next prime minister, would say that helping to end discrimination in our laws - a move that could help reduce this frightening statistic - is not a priority.

In my travels over the past months, I have asked young people what their vision for the world is when it comes to their most important issues. A group of senior students from Hellyer College in Burnie, a town in Northern Tasmania, spelt out their vision of a world with marriage equality:

In an ideal world, people would be equal regardless of sexuality, culture, race, belief, age, ability or gender. To legalise same-sex marriage would be to set the path of acceptance for the next generation.

Of course, a change in the law will not stamp out homophobia, create full equality for same-sex attracted Australians, or solve all the mental health challenges many of them face. It would be, however, a huge leap in the right direction and would continue to "set the path of acceptance for the next generation".

As we saw in May with the defeat of Labor MP Stephen Jones' bill to legislate same-sex marriage, a commitment to introduce a bill will not in itself lead to marriage equality. A successful bill will require efforts to ensure wider Labor Party support and the support of their parliamentary colleagues of various political persuasions.

However, Rudd's commitment in the first leadership debate a week ago still means something significant to me, to the young Australians understanding their sexuality and, I imagine, to the majority of young voters who personally prioritise this issue and will be casting their ballots on September 7.

Adam Pulford is the 2013 Australian Youth Representative to the United Nations. View his full profile here.